ViewPoints

The OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) is the international community’s attempt to curb aggressive tax planning. In this ViewPoint, we explain that the proposed rules may inadvertently affect cross-border investment flows, thereby impacting the ability for capital markets to contribute to economic growth and the investment opportunities of end-investors. We suggest recommendations consistent with the BEPS project's main goals while minimizing potentially adverse side effects on commingled investment vehicles.

The Capital Markets Union project, announced in July 2014 by EU Commission President Juncker, seeks to remove barriers to the free flow of capital in Europe, and increase the role that market-based finance plays in intermediating capital to European companies, projects and governments. In this ViewPoint, we set out our thinking in the areas we believe are fundamental to its success.

On December 16, 2014, President Obama signed into law sweeping changes to the rules governing multiemployer pension plans as part of the Omnibus Budget and Continuing Resolution spending bill. In a major policy shift, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 enables multiemployer plans to reduce benefits for all participants, including retirees, if essential to avoid plan insolvency. This ViewPoint outlines the challenges the legislation is intended to help solve, summarizes the legislation's key provisions and analogous approaches states are adopting to address public pension plan funding shortfalls, and explores potential implications for the future.

This ViewPoint is the 2014 edition of our overview and analysis of key EU regulatory developments affecting the European financial markets and investors. Topics covered range from investment products and investor protection, through to market structure, investment allocation and taxation.

This publication examines the behavior of bond markets and fixed income ETFs during the recent period of significant asset flows following September 26, 2014. Our analysis demonstrates that ETFs helped defuse uncertainty and facilitated orderly and stable markets. We believe this experience is an illustrative case study of how fixed income ETFs provide liquidity, price transparency, and fair allocation of costs amidst periods of market stability, as well as during periods when markets are challenged with uncertainty or significant asset flows.

This ViewPoint examines and compares the structural features of several fund types across a wide range of jurisdictions and identifies a number of existing regulations that serve to mitigate “run risk” and protect investors.

This ViewPoint examines the liquidity risk management practices of bank loans, high yield and emerging markets debt mutual funds. Our analysis of historical data over several market cycles and our experience in the markets shows that the concerns expressed by policy makers have not arisen in the past.